Associated Press stories, Page 1824
Alabama in record 5th CFP title game vs. 1st champ Ohio State
ARLINGTON, Texas — Top-ranked Alabama has two Heisman Trophy finalists and is in the College Football Playoff championship game for a record fifth time. Ohio State is back for the first time since winning the inaugural title in the CFP era. After the SEC champion Crimson Tide rolled past Notre...
Bolsonaro’s tough 2021 balance between ideology, pragmatism
BRASILIA — Brazil’s pugnacious president, Jair Bolsonaro, survived 2020 in surprisingly good shape personally and politically, with buoyant popularity ratings despite his own bout of covid-19 and a broader pandemic that has killed nearly 200,000 of his countrymen. But the new year — and a looming reelection campaign — bring...
Justin Fields leads No. 3 Ohio State to rout of No. 2 Clemson in Sugar BowlVideo
NEW ORLEANS — Justin Fields threw six touchdown passes to outshine Trevor Lawrence and No. 3 Ohio State avenged last season’s painful College Football Playoff loss to Clemson with a 49-28 victory in the Sugar Bowl semifinal Friday night. The Buckeyes (7-0) head to the CFP title game for the...
This date in sports history: Jan. 2Video
1961 — George Blanda passes for three touchdowns and kicks a field goal and the extra points to give the Houston Oilers a 24-16 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in the first AFL championship game. 1965 — The New York Jets sign Alabama quarterback Joe Namath for a reported...
Alvin Kamara on covid-19 list, could miss Saints’ playoff opener
NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Saints have placed running back Alvin Kamara, who leads the club in both yards rushing and receiving, on their COVID-19 reserve list. The move means Kamara is unavailable for Sunday’s regular-season finale at Carolina and also could miss the Saints’ first playoff game if...
No. 1 Alabama rolls past Notre Dame in Rose Bowl, advances to title gameVideo
ARLINGTON, Texas — Alabama rolled into another College Football Playoff championship game. DeVonta Smith caught three of fellow Heisman Trophy finalist Mac Jones’ four touchdown passes, Najee Harris ran for 125 yards with a high-hurdling highlight and top-ranked Alabama beat No. 4 Notre Dame, 31-14, in the relocated Rose Bowl...
Browns get to practice as ‘weight’ of Steelers game sinks inVideo
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns rang in the new year by practicing. With everything else that transpired over the past week, that was a major victory. They’ll go for an even bigger one Sunday. After days of positive covid-19 tests, disruptions and delays, the Browns found some normalcy and reopened...
Once a model, California now struggles to tame covid-19
LOS ANGELES — Ambulances waited hours for openings to offload coronavirus patients. Overflow patients were moved to hospital hallways and gift shops, even a cafeteria. Refrigerated trucks were on standby, ready to store the dead. For months, California did many of the right things to avoid a catastrophic surge from...
Ramsey leads No. 14 Northwestern past Auburn in Citrus BowlVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — Peyton Ramsey threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score, and No. 14 Northwestern’s defense made it stand up in a 35-19 victory over Auburn in the Citrus Bowl on Friday. Ramsey, a graduate transfer, totaled 291 yards passing and 50 yards rushing for Northwestern (7-2),...
Jack Podlesny’s FG lifts Georgia past Cincinnati in Peach Bowl
ATLANTA — Jack Podlesny kicked a 53-yard field goal with three seconds remaining, and No. 11 Georgia handed No. 6 Cincinnati its only loss of the season with a dramatic 24-21 victory in the Peach Bowl on Friday. Georgia trailed 21-10 in the fourth quarter, but its defense clamped down...
Peyton Ramsey leads No. 14 Northwestern past Auburn in Citrus BowlVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — Peyton Ramsey threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score, and No. 14 Northwestern’s defense made it stand up in a 35-19 victory over Auburn in the Citrus Bowl on Friday. Ramsey, a graduate transfer, totaled 291 yards passing and 50 yards rushing for Northwestern (7-2),...
GOP torn over Trump’s Electoral College challenge of Biden
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s extraordinary challenge of his election defeat by President-elect Joe Biden is becoming a defining moment for the Republican Party before next week’s joint session of Congress to confirm the Electoral College results. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is urging Republicans not to try to overturn...
A season often in doubt to end on time, no cancellationsVideo
During the summer, with baseball just returning from its hiatus and the NHL and NBA scrambling to build “bubbles” to complete their interrupted seasons, many scoffed at the prospect of the NFL going through a four-month schedule on time. Without cancellations or significant delays, too, likely even to the staging...
Browns female executive Brownson to fill in again as coach Sunday against SteelersVideo
Cleveland Browns chief of staff Callie Brownson will fill in for wide receivers coach Chad O’Shea on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. This will be the second time Brownson has been called on by coach Kevin Stefanski. Earlier this season, she became the first female in NFL history to handle...
Chicago ends 2020 with 769 homicides as gun violence surges
CHICAGO — The number of homicides and shootings in Chicago spiked dramatically in 2020, ending with more bloodshed than in all but one year in more than two decades, statistics released by police on Friday revealed. After three years of falling homicide totals, 2020 ended with 769 homicides — 274...
In a first, Congress overrides Trump veto of defense bill
WASHINGTON — Congress on Friday overrode President Donald Trump’s veto of a defense policy bill, a first by lawmakers since he took office nearly four years ago, ensuring that the measure becomes law despite Trump’s rejection. In an extraordinary New Year’s Day session, the Republican-controlled Senate easily turned aside the...
Curfew-busting New Year party-goers attack French police
PARIS — Ravers at an underground, curfew-busting New Year’s Eve party that drew at least 2,500 people in western France attacked the police sent to shut them down, torching one police vehicle and injuring officers with volleys of bottles and stones, officials said Friday. Ravers aboard hundreds of vehicles started...
U.S. hits 20 million mark in coronavirus cases
BALTIMORE — The number of confirmed U.S. coronavirus cases has surpassed 20 million, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That’s nearly twice as many as the No. 2 country, India, and nearly one-quarter of the more than 83 million cases globally. The U.S. continued to surpass other countries in...
Mexico City ban on single-use plastics takes effect
MEXICO CITY — A broad ban on single-use containers, forks, straws and other ubiquitous items takes effect in Mexico’s capital, one of the world’s largest cities, after more than a year of preparation. On Friday, Mexico City’s environmental secretary said via Twitter that “from today on Mexico City without single-use...
Delay sought in ex-officers’ trial over George Floyd’s death
MINNEAPOLIS — Prosecutors in the case against the four Minneapolis officers charged in the death of George Floyd requested that the trial be delayed by three months. The Star Tribune reports prosecutors cited the covid-19 pandemic and the amount of time needed before enough people are vaccinated and health risks...
Understanding how Georgia’s Senate runoff elections affect Congress
ATLANTA — The consequences of Georgia’s twin Senate runoffs are well known: They’ll determine which party controls the Senate in the new Congress. Right? Long term, yes, that’s the case. But the circumstances of Georgia’s seats make the near term a bit messy. One of two Georgia races is a...
Federal buildings vandalized in Philadelphia, 6 arrested, devices found
PHILADELPHIA — Six people were arrested after a group vandalized several federal buildings in Philadelphia’s Center City on New Year’s Eve, police said. Officers spotted about 50 people, all dressed in black, at about 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the historic U.S. Customs House, where windows were smashed, police said. Three...
Iran general warns U.S.: Military ready to respond to pressure
TEHRAN, Iran — The top commander of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said Friday that his country was fully prepared to respond to any U.S. military pressure as tensions between Tehran and Washington remain high in the waning days of President Donald Trump’s administration. Gen. Hossein Salami spoke at a ceremony...
Chewy sends pet paintings to keep customers from straying
NEW YORK — Danielle Schwartz didn’t ask for an oil painting of her cat. But she loves the portrait of Stinky that hangs in her upstate New York home, a surprise gift from an unlikely place: an online pet store. It’s one of the more than 1,000 free paintings that...
Reports: 8 dead in New Year’s Eve carbon monoxide poisoning in Bosnia
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Several people have been found dead in a cottage in southwestern Bosnia, police said Friday. Local media reported that eight young people died from carbon monoxide poisoning during a New Year’s Eve celebration. Local police spokeswoman Martina Medic told The Associated Press that police responded to a...
